£47K shortfall in employer pension contributions for women

There is a ‘gap’ between the amount that men and women receive in employer pension contributions, which if left unaddressed could result in a shortfall of £47,000 by the end of a woman’s working life, according to the inaugural Zurich Workplace Savings Barometer.

Last year, on average, men under the age of 35 received £217 more in employer pension contributions than females of the same age. Furthermore, between 2013 and 2016, men have benefitted from pension contributions of 7.8% of salary each year from their employers compared with 7.0% for women.

This difference comes on top of the gender pay gap and means that the value of the employer pension contribution was £3,495 for men and £2,489 for women – a difference of more than £1,000 over the four-year period. With wage growth taken into account, this difference could amount to a shortfall for women of £46,689 by the end of a working life. The analysis of more than 250,000 pension plans, broken down by age, gender, employee and member contributions alongside income, is one of the largest ever studies of workplace savings.

The findings lift the lid on three factors contributing to the shortfall in women’s pension pots – the gender pay gap leads to a lower value of employer contribution as a percentage of salary, women are still more likely to take career breaks to raise a family, and men typically work in sectors with more established or more generous pension schemes.

Rose St Louis of Zurich Insurance commented: “The impact of the gender pay gap on women’s pension pots is no secret, but this difference in the contributions that they receive from their employer presents a serious – and growing – problem. The ‘triple effect’ of smaller salaries, career breaks for women and lower contribution rates needs to be addressed; we can’t ignore a £47,000 shortfall. Workplace engagement and guidance has a central role to play in helping women make the most of their saving potential while they are working full time, but it is now crucial that greater focus is placed on ensuring that this gap is not allowed to grow any further.”

There were also more men in the UK-wide analysis (154,999 vs 95,262 women), indicating that, even before the gap in salaries and contributions levels has an effect, there are significantly more men receiving pension contributions in the first place. This is likely to be impacted by the auto enrolment eligibility rules, which mean that employees earning less than £10,000 per annum are not automatically enrolled into their workplace scheme.

To help consumers prepare for the future and achieve the lifestyle they want in retirement, Zurich has launched a series of new tools to help people imagine, plan and manage their own financial wellbeing. To access these go to zurich.co.uk/futureyou/pensions.